Chris mano Video Portfolio

a brief introduction

I lead an in-house film team and remain active as a filmmaker shooting, directing, and editing when the project calls for it. These selections show how I develop people and production systems, direct corporate and personal stories, simplify unfamiliar subjects, and make practical decisions about scope. The credits identify what I did and what collaborators contributed.

Developing Watermark’s Film Team

Leadership case study | Film Director | 2015 – Present

Watermark had two talented early-career filmmakers and broader creative direction when I joined. I established dedicated leadership of the film team: developing its people, evaluating requests, and creating early film-specific intake, budgeting, and approval procedures. I compared the estimated use of staff resources with outside production costs so executive leaders could make clearer decisions.

When demand approached 250 annual requests, I worked with executive leadership on an initial tiered video menu. The Executive Communications Director later expanded the model into a broader communications resource menu. I also helped launch an iPad-based self-service studio that shifted approximately 150 recurring videos a year away from the core staff team, added shared post-production storage, developed staff and production partners, and advised on two later studios and a podcast room.

Today, the professional film team leads roughly 75–120 productions a year. I build and defend the film budget while our Film Team Project Manager handles ongoing budget management. My contributions centered on early film-specific structure, team development, and production decisions.

2025 Year in Review

Executive communications and campaign film | 6:51

My role: Audiovisual scriptwriter, director, and cinematographer.

Starting with talking points and branding elements for an established giving campaign, I wrote the audiovisual script, worked through executive review, and directed nine organizational leaders. We filmed over two studio days and two additional location days, using footage the team captured throughout the year. I translated the campaign’s approved direction and visual identity into a film used in live gatherings, on the website, in email, and on social media.

Additional collaborators:
Tristan Lazor – Co-writer
David Penuel – Co-writer

Jordan Thompson – Camera, Editing

Jeff White – Camera

TJ Smith – Motion Design

Baptism in 60 Seconds

One-minute motion-design explainer | 16:9 sample

My role: Developed and refined a ChatGPT prompt-based draft workflow; revised the audiovisual script with a staff writer and requesting executives; directed the film, recorded voiceover audio, and collaborated with the motion designer.

The brief was to reduce Watermark’s existing position papers on baptism to a clear, high-level explanation in our established 60-second explainer format. I used the prompt workflow to make a draft, then worked with the writer and executives to sharpen its wording. The animation uses simple typography, shapes, and water imagery to support the voiceover. The supplied 16:9 version is slated for the upcoming baptism website with a vertical video version to play on social.

Additional collaborators:
Lauren Adkinson -Co-writer
TJ Smith – Motion Designer

What I learned with jermaine harrison

Direct-to-camera leadership insight with illustration | 1:15

My role: Pitched a five-video interstitial format; wrote the audiovisual shooting script; directed the interview; led the creative collaboration with the illustrator and editor.

For the Church Leaders Conference, I proposed asking leaders to share one useful idea directly to camera against a solid color backdrop. Hand-drawn illustrations would appear around the speaker to support each idea. This film applies that format to Jermaine’s lesson about leadership. The interstitial videos were used during main-stage events at the conference and posted online. The example shows how a highly art-directed format can accommodate different speakers without losing their individual voice.

Additional collaborators:

Jordan Thompson – Illustrations & Animations
Taylor Jenkins – Camera & Editing

Meat | A Visual Narrative

Artist documentary and exhibition promotion | 2:04

My role: Producer, interviewer, cinematographer, and editor.

I pitched a series of short documentaries to connect collectors with the people and places behind Jon Flaming’s paintings. For MEAT, I developed the interviews, filmed restaurant and studio material, and edited the piece, allowing unplanned encounters to inform the story. It demonstrates my own production and editorial work with a lean footprint.

What you do matters

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum | Institutional film | 8:31

My role: Producer, camera, and editor for Quin Mathews Films.

Following a museum rebrand by Pentagram, the assignment was to explain the museum’s work and make a case for donor support and action against contemporary genocide and Holocaust denial. I submitted the federal RFP that won the video assignment, then produced, filmed at the museum in Washington, D.C., and edited the film. It brings an institutional story to life through interviews, museum activity, and archival materials within the agency’s creative direction.

Additional collaborators:

Michelle Tycher Stein – Creative Director

Micheal Haines – Location Sound
Quin Mathews – Co-producer

Newsies – Fast-turn social production

Vertical video social promotion | 0:42

My role: Cinematographer and editor; developed the final concept in post-production.

With three hours to capture rehearsal material and half a day to edit, I made a performance-driven promo for Accolade Community Theatre’s Newsies. I organized the finished 42 seconds around a song recorded at rehearsal. This shows how I work personally when a timely social asset calls for a small production footprint.

Awakening in the UK

International documentary | Opening excerpt 4:25

My role: Researcher, writer, director of the film and interviews, and director of photography. Jordan Thompson contributed camera work and edited the film.

After talking to the Executive Producer about his recent trip to the UK, I researched reports of renewed interest in faith in the area, developed the narrative, wrote the script, and directed and filmed interviews and locations there. Commissioned for Watermark’s Church Leaders Conference, it premiered to more than 4,000 attendees; one interview subject traveled from the UK for a live discussion. The film demonstrates what I love about documentary filmmaking; getting a chance to deep dive into a subject and from that understanding, tell a story through the people living it.

The full 25 minute version can be found HERE.

Additional collaborators:
John Mcgee – Executive Producer
Todd Proctor – Associate Producer

Maddy Mcgee – Production Manager
Jordan Thompson – Additional Camera, Edit

Acts of the spirit

Motion-graphics identity opener | 0:20

My role: Directed the motion designer from an approved campaign graphic.

The team supplied a finalized graphic lockup. We built an animated sequence using typography, architectural imagery, and graphic shapes that resolves into that approved design. This short piece demonstrates directing motion within an established visual identity. This video is an event opener for a speaker walk-on, rather than an explanatory film.

Additional collaborator:
TJ Smith – Motion Designer